The History of a Coin
by Team Renly
Summary: <html><head></head>A young Alma Coin barely remembers her home in District 13, so which events in her past lead her to become the President we know and hate? Complete</html>
1. The Start of a Coin

_Dear Katniss,_

_You might think it strange, but I'm not surprised that you killed me. I was never a compassionate being at the best of times and the choices I made have been truly despicable. I have few regrets but most were within the first fifteen years of my life. In return for Snow's death I give you this._

_This is the story of my life._

_Sincerely,_

_Alma Coin_

District 8 was muddy and cold all year round. If it weren't for the fact that they made most of the clothing for all districts, the death toll would be unconscionable; it was bad enough already. The heavy soot from the factories combined with the constant dragging of lifeless feet had churned the ground into a mud pit that never came off clothing and left the people downtrodden, muddy and freezing 24/7, 365 days a year.

It was a bad enough life for its normal residents, but worse when you were an angry fourteen year old who didn't belong in it.

My family was born in District 13 in one of its many underground vaults. We were an oddity; it was rare enough to have a child at all but rarer to have two. Victoria Coin was a year older than I was, pretty and popular but too old for school but too young for work.

We'd ended up in District 8 because my father was working with an old victor, Reginald Paylor, to attempt to set up an underground movement in the shaky political climate.

My mother died in child birth, a common fate for those lucky few who could parent children after the pox.

It didn't help that we'd been signed up for the tesserae after that year's Hunger Games, despite avoiding the radar for the two previous years when I had been applicable. The 37th Hunger Games were always brutal on principal, but this year had been spectacularly cruel. A desert setting made water a necessity, except the only water was in the Cornucopia and you had to use a bucket to access it. There were no weapons anywhere in the arena so tributes had to throw rocks at each other and break necks while they attempted to access the water with a slow-moving winch. When a tribute fell into the Cornucopia and drowned, bleeding heavily from a cut across the temple, it became a blood bath until finally the winner was a kid from District 11 who'd been fast enough to run away and made a shelter in the sand.

He was asphyxiating and dying of heat stroke when they picked him up, but the two remaining tributes in the Cornucopia had gone in a death roll and both had died falling off the rim.

Still, the celebrations had run despite the fact he was mute due to irreparable burns on his vocal chords.

Now, things were going back to normal, if 'normal' is what you call the joyless grind of district life. I spent most of my days playing truant, running free in the streets and the warehouses.

My favourite spot was the main factory near the centre of the district. The pieces were from before the Dark Days and required frequent replacement. For the most difficult to access parts, they sometimes paid the kids who ran around the place to climb up and refit the new pieces.

Kieran, on of the middle-aged factory workers who I got along well with, called for some kids to help him. Seeing as it was school time and most of the older kids didn't hang out in the warehouses, I only had a boy around a year older than me to compete with.

He had a head start but I managed to tackle him to the ground so that we slid through the muddy footprints to come to a halt in front of Kieran.

I had always been a favourite but it seemed like he was friends with the boy I'd tackled as well as he chuckled, "Oh, Aeros, tackled by a girl," shaking his head with mock disapproval as the boy attempted to rub the mud off his face, succeeding only in wiping it through his already spiky brown hair, "Anyway, it's a big part so I could use both of your help."

We both groaned as we got off the ground and picked up the fan rotor and attempted to balance it between us.

It was tricky because we each needed a hand free to climb so we ended up holding onto the metal flaps on the sides, much to the disapproval of the senior mechanic who Aeros flicked off. I smiled and he grinned in reply and for a few seconds there was an awkward silence as we started to climb until he started to talk, "So… my name's Aeros, but most people call me Ross… what's your name?"

"Alma Coin," I replied.

There were a few more seconds of awkward silence before he continued, "Nice tackle back there."

"Thanks…"

"Where'd you get so strong?" he asked, groaning as we lifted it over one of the main hydraulic valves.

"Well, from this," I said, hefting the rotor as I spoke, "And I exercise… one in five hundred isn't that great odds…" I whisper as we both fall silent.

I was about to pull it over another auxiliary valve when Ross shakes his head and drags me about ten metres to the left where there's a gap you can squeeze through without climbing over the pipe.

"Thanks," I replied as he grinned again, his teeth shining against soot-blackened lips.

He was about to reply when he tripped over an excess length of pipe stretched across the top of an otherwise flat engine block. His foot slid towards the edge of the engine as I reached forward, gripping his wrist as well as the rotor as his body swung out over the edge before I finally managed to pull him back, slipping in the process as he landed on top.

We both just lay there, panting, when he rolled over to look at me and say, "I think you just saved my life."

"Don't be so dramatic, but thanks," I replied.

"Look down, seriously," Ross exclaimed.

When I did, I realised we were about ten metres off the ground. At the same time as the terror hit, I could also feel a faint draught from some broken boards near the roof, gently blowing my hair back.

"Just a couple more metres, Alma," Aeros called as I turned back.

We hefted it up to the socket as we started a gentle conversation about each other; age, lifestyle, family. It turned out Ross' full name was Aeros Servan and he was an orphan and only child who'd turned fifteen the previous week and was pretty good-looking except for the layer of mud with his spiky brown hair and green eyes. He worked as an apprentice mechanic as well as helping with the various odd jobs like part replacement. He showed me some basic electrics and what to do with them as he fitted the new rotor.

"I like it up here," I admitted as we rested, dangling our legs out over the production line.

"Yeah, I wish I could stay up here forever…" Ross replied wistfully.

"Why can't you?" I asked, genuinely concerned that I might not get to see him again.

"My size," he admitted as he pulled of the layers of clothing to reveal a broad and muscled frame, "Soon I won't be able to squeeze through those smaller gaps and they'll pay some new kid to come in and replace me. I tried wearing fewer clothes so now every day I'm freezing. I tried eating less but it leaves me exhausted and soon I won't be able to hide it."

"You know… if you eat more you'll get bigger so you can climb over the top instead, it'd be hard but you could still stay here," I replied.

A smile burst onto his lips as he thought this over, "Hey, you're right, and then I could do it faster as well because I wouldn't be so tired.

He was still grinning from ear-to-ear as I stretched, preparing to heft the old rotor all the way back down. Ross pointed out a join in the metal that ran to the ground that you could push the scrap parts down and use as a slide instead of climbing the whole way back again and I started smiling ass well.

When we reached the bottom, I was exhausted but fairly happy, having actually enjoyed myself in the company of a real friend and riding the slide had given me an adrenaline rush.

As we walked into the gentle snow fall, I asked him where he lived to which he replied, "Nowhere."

When I raised an eyebrow, he led me over to a bench next to the door and explained, "I ran away from the orphanage and I have enough money to buy clothes for warmth but I can't afford a home."

"You could come with me…?" I offered as I banged my hands together. Exhaustion was slowly fogging up my consciousness and I tried to fight of tendrils of sleep.

"Thanks," he replied as he put his arm around me in a semi-hug. It was a friendly gesture in return for my offer but I hadn't realised how poorly I'd slept since arriving in 8 and I barely realised that I drifted into sleep in the safety of his arm.

**Whew, first part is finished. If anyone finds anything wrong, please feel free to tell me. It might seem a little childish now but consider it to be Coin's point of view **_**as**_ **a child. Later, it will be a **_**lot**_ **more serious.**

**Please, DO NOT SUGGEST Coin goes in the Games.**


	2. Moulding Coins

**The 38****th**** Hunger Games is coming up soon. Character submissions are open but only a few characters are going to be mentioned by name. Districts 1& 8 are already finished and this isn't a merry 'Choose-Your-Tribute' Games, it's only a small part of the storyline**

Aeros moved in with us and ended up living in the storage cupboard under our stairs. He grew taller and broader rapidly after starting to eat properly and was now a fairly formidable figure. Every morning we'd meet at the bottom of the stairs and visit the factory. He'd got me a job as an official apprentice mechanic and we now walked hand-in hand as we approached the warehouse.

Life seemed good, despite the oppressive nature of District 8, I felt free and safe with Ross around.

Even my sister Victoria couldn't ruin the mood with her stupid jokes and superior attitude. In a few weeks it would be the 38th Hunger Games and she couldn't be more of a bitch I she tried. She treated them like a fairytale fear, as though it couldn't happen to the perfect Victoria Coin. Waving her tesserae in my face and gloating, I had to kick myself every time I found myself wishing she would get in the Games.

Except than no one deserved that fate.

That night, Ross was out with some male friends and Tori was out as well so my father, Belvedere, took me with him to visit Paylor and his wife in the Victor's Village.

Despite the fact that I accepted my station in life, the Victor's Village made my blood boil. I could see the pipes from underground heaters and the pumps, spewing fresh water into the drains.

Even the second set of boots on the doorsteps made me want to hurl something, do _something_. It was an obscene reminder of the power of the Capitol held over the poor, starving masses, everything; down to the fact only two houses bore signs of life. A reminder of the 72 kids who were never coming home.

When we walked inside the luxurious house, the rush of warmth felt like it was burning me, like the Capitol was breathing down my back.

I knew my father was trying to stop this, but in my opinion he could never be too soon.

Reginald Paylor was a thirty-year old who already bore grey hairs around his ears and a light growth of stubble to compliment the huge circles under his eyes. I knew that he wanted to save his District, but the face of the haggard man in front of me told it all. There would be no victory parade down the Capitol's candy-coloured crap-hole of a city. He had all but given up and I could see that the excitement in my father's eyes was all that kept him going through their meetings.

I tried listening to their discussions about which warehouses could have rebel sympathies and how to organise an assault, but I was a kid and it bored me like hell.

I ended up slumped on a huge, fluffy couch watching TV. It was mostly Capitol news broadcasts but when it showed District 13 I had to stop myself from leaping toward the screen with the site of my home.

Even with Ross, I still felt tired of trying to hide my place of birth, climbing under the roof slats to hide my father's paperwork and worrying the Peacekeepers were coming to get me when I slept and the sight of my old home only made me feel worse.

The meeting came to an end around ten o'clock, earlier than usual and I could tell from the dejected expression on his face that he too was on the brink of giving up, tired of losing a battle before it started.

When we got home, we had to have watery rice with salted meat seeing as our oil supply was barely enough to heat the house until the next delivery of the tesserae, an uncomfortable reminder of the death threat hanging over our heads, a brutal thought that the next Hunger Games were coming all too soon. Ross seemed to sense my discontent and sat close by at dinner, but I could see the fear in his eyes and we both knew that there was nothing you could do to console each other.

After dinner, I ended up playing chess with my father on out chipped wooden set.

I was black and he was white so he ended up starting first, but I was already several steps ahead anyway.

If I moved my knights on either side of the board out side first, it would create a distraction from the movement o the bishops and the rooks, slowly making their way down the board.

By luck, the knight on the left captured his rook but a bishop left the knight stranded. I slowly forgot about the trapped knight, but as the game went on, I realised the final gambit would fail without both knights in play.

I lost both bishops and three pawns but the knight was free. I left both knights in danger, but he was missing most of his pieces and seemed focused on saving his king. In the next turn, I had both knights in place when he captured my queen.

"I've got you, little princess," he said as he twirled the black queen between his fingertips.

"But I've got you," I replied as I moved the knight, leaving him in a checkmate and showing him the little white king as I knocked it over.

"You're getting better," he replied, feigning happiness behind his exhausted-looking façade.

I smiled, but I was tired as well and I got up to go to bed in my little closet upstairs.

"Don't forget your Reaping clothes!" he called after me, leaving me dead in my tracks.

The Reaping was… tomorrow?

**Yay for cliff hangers! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. If you submit a tribute, you want to do it soon because any selected names appear in two chapters time.**

**Review even if you're flaming; it's always good to know people are reading the story.**

**Next Chapter: The REAPING**


	3. Two Faces of a Coin

**May the 38****th**** Hunger Games BEGIN!**

District 8 was famous for being cold all year round, but that Monday it was as though the temperature had dropped twenty degrees. The wind that passed through the packed village square should have seemed warm, bringing sea air in from Districts on the coast but instead it made the bleak, muddy town seem even more desolate than the shabby, white-washed buildings suggested.

It was the day of the Reaping.

Shivering children stood locked in a pen in front of a makeshift stage which bore only three people.

The mayor was a wrinkled man with the furrowed brow, streaming eyes and red nose of a drunk. Living in a tiny little freezer, having to watch your people starve and freeze every day, knowing there wasn't a thing you could do about it had driven him past depression to the stage at which he became almost zombified.

Tiara Goldilocks was a moronic Capitol supervisor with ridiculous gold hair, as the name suggested, and a giggly laugh that probably hadn't helped the mayor's collapse to insanity.

I stood in the pen like hundreds of others, squished tight with Aeros as we gripped each other's hands like we'd never let go.

The final seat on stage was taken by Jerron Velue, the only District 8 victor other than Paylor. It appeared Paylor was unable to go to these Games due to 'health problems' although more likely he was drunk and couldn't handle it. It was terrible, watching everyone with power to help us descend into drunken stupor, but if they couldn't even help themselves, what hope was there for us?

The mayor blundered his way through the history of the Games and the stories about 'preventing another Dark Days' and all that tripe.

Then, the Capitol lady bounced her way up to two identical fishbowls and did a little flourish of her hair as she came to a halt.

"Now, ladies first, and may the odds be ever in your favour!" she squealed as she placed her hand in the bowl.

Now that the moment of Reaping was finally here, I was shaking, gripping Ross' hand like a vice.

Rivulets of sweat ran down my forehead and my palms and it felt like my blood was about to freeze in my veins as I shivered in abject terror.

Only, it wasn't my name I heard.

It was my sister's.

"Victoria Coin!" Tiara called loudly as Victoria numbly walked towards the stage. I wanted to do something, make some brilliant plan to save her, but I was glued to the spot. I felt Aeros' arm around me, but I was numb, staring lifelessly at every step my sister took towards the stage. "You lucky devil!" Tiara screeched as she pulled my sister up the final step, as though the Hunger Games were some great honour.

As my sister took her place next to her mentor, Tiara dipped her hand into the second bowl.

I realised a split second before she called the name whose it was going to be. I saw the recognition in the woman's eyes as she saw me.

Saw me next to the male tribute from District 8.

"Aeros Servan," she said; most of the bounce out of her voice as I fell to my knees.

Ross grabbed my arms and pulled me back up again until my face was in line with his as he whispered, "Remember me…" and kissed me.

I wanted to stay like this forever, to hold him and never let go, but all too soon someone pulled me off and he walked stoically towards the stage, all sign of emotion wiped from his face.

He took his place silently as I kicked and spat, trying to escape the iron grip of whoever held me, stopping me from running straight to the stage.

All eyes were on me, some full of pity, others who glanced before turning away, pretending it never happened.

No one noticed Tiara telling us to disperse. It just… happened as everyone tried to hide their face from my fiery glare. When finally the kid who held me let go, I tried to chase Ross but all I got was a backwards glance before he was into the Justice Building and gone, I tried not to add 'forever' but it fell into place against my will.

I tried to pull myself together, but I ended up collapsing to my knees, watching my tears melt tiny pools of snow on the ground in front of me.

It wasn't until I felt the pull of my father's arm that I allowed myself to move.

I followed doggedly, wishing I could be drunk and delirious like Paylor and the mayor, but I wasn't. I couldn't push aside the knowledge that even if, by some miracle, one of them survived; only one of them would survive.

By the time I slumped in front of our tiny personal TV, all of the Reapings were over.

The highlights package focused on the District 1 kids for over half an hour, which was odd until a news reader explained. The two tributes chosen were child TV stars in a famous Capitol mini-series and it seemed people had been too shocked to volunteer this year because they were listed as the tributes on a scrolling caption, Vanity Lee and Cerron James. Rumours were spiralling that it was the work of a rival network director, trying to crush the show.

Finally, they quickly skipped through the volunteering of two bear-children from 2, a surprisingly fit kid from 3 and a small girl with glasses, two tall, bronzed fighters from 4, generic kids from 5, 6 and 7, a slight focus on me chasing after Ross and Victoria for 8, a short and stocky guy and a girl with a wolfish smile from 9, some depressingly weedy kids from 10, two shifty looking kids from 11 with their arms shackled behind their backs (criminals apparently) and two malnourished, decrepit kids from 12 with the coal dust not even washed off their faces.

Then the screen went black and the Reaping was over.

I curled into a ball and stayed like that. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep; I just lay there in a ball of terror.

A few days later, I felt the couch sink beside me and realised that my father had joined me as the TV blinked to life of its own accord.

Caesar Flickerman, the genial young host of the Hunger Games appeared on the screen to announce the release of the training scores.

Vanity and Cerron received nines, although I was doubtful that they got it for their actual talents, more likely the game makers were just fans of their show. District 2 got a nine and a ten which was unsurprising considering their bear-like qualities. The boy from 3, whose name turned out to be Raven, got a ten which was surprising, despite his size he wasn't a Career and I was nervous as to what unknown skills he had up his sleeve. The little girl got a seven despite the fact she was thirteen. District 4 to 7 ranged from an eight with the bronzed District 4 boy, Locke, and the brown haired District 6 girl, Laira to a four with the weedy District 5 kids.

Next was a corny picture of Ross with a nine which didn't surprise me, he was used to climbing over huge machinery and was built like a tank, picking up a weapon and mastering it would be second nature to him. Victoria on the other hand managed a seven although I didn't know of any survival skills she possessed.

The highest after that was a ten for the District 11 prisoner, Storm, while the two District 12 kids barely scraped threes.

Then the screen once again turned black, locking me alone in my mind until the interviews that night. Seeing Victoria and Ross do well, I wasn't sure if it made me happier or sadder as the realisation came that I had to choose. Only one of them could come back and I had to accept it, or even that neither could come home.

Finally, the television flicked on of its own accord once again to show the tributes in their stupid, shiny carriages, waving and smiling.

The tributes from 1 yet again stole the show in matching silk shirts with vests and flowing capes glistening in the half-light of the twilight. District 2 were in heavy armour that looked as though it was made of stone. The huge kid from 3 was flashing in every colour of the rainbow in an electrically charged dinner suit with a black bow tie and the girl had a glowing tiara which occasionally sent lighted ripples down a dress that looked as though it was made of aluminium foil. The boy from District 4 wore no shirt and a pair of fishing pants covered in ropes and hooks while the girl wore a dress that shimmered like fish scales which, combined with her skin, just looked creepy. District 5 were just done up in a tuxedo and dress with some painted on tattoos for interest but basically flopped. District 6 looked like someone had wrapped vines around them and they wore a doctor's and nurse's hat respectively to represent the medicine district. District 7 were dressed up like woodcutters with overalls and fake axes to match their totally fake smiles.

When District 8 was announced I froze solid with my eyes glued to the screen.

It appeared that someone had found out Ross was a mechanic because his costume had nothing to do with textiles. He had some type of gel to spike up his newly-washed hair and his green eyes sparkled. They'd put a silver stud in his left ear and he wore a thick shirt with the sleeves folded up high to show of arms like a bull and leather gloves. On his legs he wore shorts with the overall top-section folded down to hang around his legs with dirty bare feet to make it seem as though he'd just been working.

The District 1 kids had finished their little carriage ride and I realised all eyes were focused on Ross as he was showered in wolf whistles and the odd flower.

I only felt worse as I realised that this could be the only time I'd see him without all the heavy clothes he wore in District 8 and he looked amazing. I'd never realised quite how handsome he was and yet as soon as I did, it was when he was basically riding to his death.

Victoria wore a dress in layers with every layer a different colour and different texture to show the textiles from District 8. On each layer was a ring of jewels in the colour of the dress. It was the prettiest thing she'd ever worn and yet she'd only be wearing it for ten minutes.

District 9 wore solid grey outfits like pieces of machinery, District 10 were dressed like farmers with tweed and flannelette shirts, District 11 wore clothes made out of fruit and District 12 wore miner's hats and overalls covered in glittery coal dust but I ignored them almost completely.

All I could think about was Ross and how beautiful he looked and yet at the same time, how close he was to his doom.

The two District 1 actors knew how to handle themselves on TV and came off as charming and light-hearted while District 2 was a brutal contrast. Raven was going for smart but funny and pulled it off well. Locke was relaxed and jovial while Laira played up the small-town girl act.

Finally, when Ross came on, he was still in his costume and had the crowd in his hand as he grinned with sparkling teeth and gave a little wave.

"So Aeros-," Caesar began before he was cut off by Ross.

"Come on, Caesar, don't be so formal, call me Ross," Ross said easily as he settled into a large interview chair.

"So, _Ross_," Caesar began, emphasising the nickname, "What do you think of the nine in the training?"

"I'm pretty happy with it, it's not often you see someone that far down the list getting scores like that. Bit annoyed about getting beaten by that kid from 11 though," he joked, "but hey, it happens."

"We saw a girl standing with you at the Reaping, would you like to tell the audience about her? I'm sure it's a fascinating tale," he added.

"That's my girl back home," Ross grinned his new synthetic white smile, "I've known her for only a couple of months but she's amazing," he looked at the camera and for a moment it felt like he could see me, despite the fact he might as well have been a million miles away, "She's the reason I want to go all the way."

"That's sweet," Caesar replied.

"She sure is," Ross grinned before his expression became downcast, "There's just one problem… she's Victoria's sister…"

You could hear the whispers of the crowd as they talked about this and the buzzer went off before Caesar began again.

"Well, I hope you go well," he said, regaining his composure at a remarkable speed.

As Ross sat down, I could see him clenching and unclenching his fist, a habit he'd had to show anger ever since I'd known him.

When Victoria came to the stage in her sparkly dress, I could see that she was worried about being on stage. Ross had pulled off a laid-back air brilliantly, even with the whole revelation that his girlfriend' sister would have to die for him to survive.

"Victoria, nice to meet you," Caesar began jovially as he extended his hand to her, which she shook grudgingly, "What did you think of the seven?"

"I'm happy enough with a seven, I didn't think I'd even do that well," she replied, trying to fake her happiness.

Caesar realised she was nervous, sitting on the edge of her chair as if preparing to flee, "Come on, Vicky, if I can call you that," she thought for a second before nodding, "relax."

She sat back slightly further before flinching with Caesar's next question, "So, we all heard about your sister, what do you think about your predicament?"

"Well… I hadn't really thought about it until now… I guess I don't really mind if I die, so long as Ross survives for her. We never really got along much when we were at home, but I really wish that she could at least have someone come home, even if it isn't me. He's a really nice guy but the problem is, there are 22 other 'nice people' who have girlfriends and families who wish that they could see them come home."

Their banter continued about the Capitol and her thoughts on the other contestants but I was focused on her previous words; "He's a really nice guy but the problem is, there are 22 other 'nice people' who have girlfriends and families who wish that they could see them come home."

If Ross came home for me, 23 other people didn't come home to their families and friends. Could I really choose that fate for so many others for my own interests?

**Whoa, that was a long one. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story and keep reading. For anyone who noticed, the chess game is a metaphor: Peeta and Katniss are the knights, Coin is the black queen and Snow is the white king as well as some other characters representing other pieces.**

**Next Chapter: The 38th Hunger Games begin.**


	4. A Game of Coins

**Finally, the 38****th**** Hunger Games have arrived. Thanks to everyone who's reading the story, I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks go to Skyclaw for reviewing every chapter so far.**

The screen blared to life once again as the countdown began to the start of the Games. I'd had to move to get food and use the bathroom, despite the fact I wanted to watch every moment of what might be the last day of Ross or Victoria's lives.

I sat bolt upright, staring intently at the tiny pixels on the screen as the buzzer counted down.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Suddenly, the tributes appear on tiny silver plates. The arena looked like some type of oil rig with heavy metal bars making up the platform they stood on. Beneath them, the sea raged with waves up to three metres high spraying the bottom of the platform.

The cornucopia was in the centre of the ringed platform, with a one and a half metre gap from the discs the tributes stood on while the other side was a flat walkway leading away from the cornucopia towards various corridors and sets of stairs.

Ross jumped immediately while others either paused or bolted down the corridors.

The careers all followed quickly but so did the others I'd noticed in the interviews; Locke, Storm and Raven, while the District 6 girl, Laira had run with Victoria. It appeared there had already been alliance arrangements going on as the two pairs went back to back as they dashed to the cornucopia. The Careers were stocking up quickly in preparation for an assault and Ross' pack, even protecting each other's backs as they were, grabbed all they could carry before sprinting and leaping over the gap and following the corridor I'd seen Victoria take.

Locke took a throwing knife in the shoulder and Raven was cut across the ribs but they all made it across.

The camera had cut away from Ross to show the Careers creating a nest as they prepared to follow the runaways.

Their preparations were apparently too uninteresting for the impatient populus of the Capitol as the camera followed the fleeing group.

It turned out to be a short pursuit as they cut into the first room along the corridor. Inside, there were crates of supplies which had been totally emptied by the game makers so that the entire squad could hide in the biggest crates if necessary.

The sounds of the Career's rifling through the supplies had stopped and the entire group dived into the crates. Locke and Raven were beginning to look slightly off-colour but for the first time, Ross looked towards the screen and it became apparent that he'd been smacked in the face with a morning star. His nose was pulverised across his face, his right jaw was clearly dislocated and broken and one eye was already swollen closed.

His face was cut off from view as the top of the crate closed as the District 2 boy, Toro, smashed the door open, showing that the locks had been removed on every door to make it impossible to hide forever.

"What's in there, Toro?" Cerron, clearly taking charge, called.

"Crates and boxes, want me to check them all?" Toro grunted in reply.

"Don't waste your time. There's no way they'd leave supplies so close and you'd have to be a moron to hide so close to our base. We need to get going to catch up to those other gits before they can get to us," Cerron commanded as several sets of feet walked away from the crate room.

Before Ross' pack left the crates, the camera cut to some more interesting action back at the cornucopia. It seemed, in their rush to catch Ross and his gang, the Careers had taken the whole group seeing as they were one down after Locke joined the alliance. The move looked planned as the other tributes appeared from the opposite side of the rig to the main alliance to pilfer the Career's supplies with no risk of retribution.

In a final kick in the pants for the Careers, they made sure to leave enough supplies so it seemed as though they weren't near the cornucopia so the Careers wouldn't follow them.

Once they had shown enough of the supplies being stolen, they showed the Careers smashing down doors to find every room empty before finally showing Ross, Victoria, Locke, Raven, Laira and Storm.

Locke and Raven were lying on the floor as Laira, who was from the medicinal district and had pulled some kind of numbing salve and some sterile cotton out of an equipment pack, sewed up their respective wounds.

Meanwhile, Storm was sitting across Ross' legs to stop him kicking as Victoria was doing something with his face.

When the camera moved to show his face, I almost cried out for him as I made out the tears streaking down his cheeks and his pained panting as Victoria tried setting his nose straight to shove tissue up it and stem the breathing.

Finally, when his writhing became impossible to work with, she pinched the vein on the side of his neck, knocking him unconscious almost immediately.

I'd known she could do it since I was a little kid, she always showed off since it seemed she found it hilarious to knock out her friends, but seeing her do it now felt odd… like she wasn't just my harmless-but-annoying big sister anymore. She really was in a competition that would undoubtedly cause her to kill or be killed.

When she finished with his nose, she held his face gently before cracking his jaw quickly into place. His eyes opened wide and Storm had to quickly jolt forward and muffle his scream.

As the camera zoomed in on his agonised expression, I recognised it all too well. It wasn't the pain that had made him yell, I'd seen his crush his hand in heavy machinery with barely a whimper; it was sheer terror.

It happened occasionally at our house. He'd lived alone most of his life as an orphan but he would wake up in a house filled with the sounds of several other people breathing in an unfamiliar room and his reaction was to scream in terror.

Originally, I'd always go downstairs to calm him down until finally, about two months before the Games, he stopped doing it.

Now, it seemed as though the unfamiliar setting of the rig combined with Storm's hand clamped over his mouth, despite trusting him enough to go back-to-back with him at the cornucopia, had totally set him off.

Eventually, his brain registered where he was and what was happening and he settled down, but I hadn't.

I was shaking in terror at what was happening to Ross, forcing myself to watch but at the same tame, terrified as to what might happen.

When the group organised their supplies, it seemed they'd hit a minor jackpot. They had a pack full of medical supplies, several small packs with supplies of preserved food, some lighters, two water bottles and a pack of water purification tablets as well as a small cache of weapons.

Raven grudgingly took first pick of a sword seeing as he had never been trained in any weaponry. Locke, unsurprisingly, took a long-bladed spear and a length of rope that no one could think of a use for. Laira took a series of knives of various sizes, both for throwing and fighting. Ross surprised me, taking a one-handed, cut-down broadsword despite the fact he'd never used a sword. A second glance showed that it was weighted like a wrench, something much closer to Ross. Victoria looked over the weapons distastefully before picking up a light long sword and a crossbow. This left Storm, the District 11 prisoner, to take a falchion, a morning star which Ross had shied away from and a bow and arrow, leaving them all wishing they'd asked someone from District 9, the hunting district, to join their group.

They ended up back in the crates, arranging themselves and trying to sleep when the viewers must have gotten bored because once again, it showed the Careers on the prowl.

"Grr… still none of those stupid hick-pricks dead yet," Toro growled as he continued bashing open doors on his way along the corridor with the other tributes trailing behind.

"Come on, there's no way they're going to let us get away with _no deaths_ on the first day, seriously," Vanity replied, looking over her nails.

"I just can't believe that git from my district, Locke, would rather go with that jumped-up District 8 lover boy than his own district partner," the District 4 girl, Avanna, moaned.

"Speaking of jumped up," whispered the District 2 girl to Avanna, giving Cerron and Vanity a glare.

It was impressive timing as Cerron was twirling a piece of hair around his finger and Vanity was picking at her nails while talking to each other about the show they'd starred on. It was clearly well received in the Capitol as the presenters laughed way longer than the joke deserved.

Finally, when they reached the stairs, they found the top blocked off by a heavy metal grate.

"_Shit,"_ Toro swore as he reached the grate and tried rattling it, "They must have gotten here first."

"No way," Cerron shook his head, "It's locked, this must be the game makers; those little pricks must have tricked us. On a lighter note, that means the runaways are locked in on the other side. As much as I'd like to deal with that group first, we need to either recruit or tire them out, it'd only take a lucky shot and they'd outnumber us by 2 and that's if there is only the 6 of them. They got 10, 8, 8, 9, 7 and 10 as their scores, we'd be pulverised unless we outnumber them. I suggest killing off stragglers and recruiting the boy from 9, he was obviously a hunter and we need strength from afar, the girl from 3-"

"The thirteen-year old?" Toro scoffed.

"Have you not watched the Games, like, ever?" Cerron asked, exasperated, "District 3 always blow stuff up and set traps and it works _great_. The little alliance has that District 3 boy but we need the brains, a.k.a the little girl. Agreed?"

"Yeah," Avanna replied grudgingly.

"I guess," was Vanity's answer.

"Fine," the District 2 girl said.

Toro looked angry for a few seconds before shaking his head dismissively, "Fine, whatever."

As the Careers started to run to the other end of the arena, the camera showed Ross and his pack again.

"Hey, guys?" Laira began as the other 5 grumbled, but clearly none of them had been asleep, after all, who could? "I was just thinking. Why did we get empty water bottles and water purification tablets if the water is so hard to reach?"

As she said it, it occurred to me, and obviously the rest of them, that the water sounded much closer than it had previously. They jumped out of the crates and tooled up, with Ross wearing some type of light-weight body armour that earlier I'd assumed was some kind of extra shirt.

He led the way out, sword raised, a few seconds after the Careers had sprinted past.

They were at the cornucopia now, trying to pick up all their equipment. The water level was now such that the waves were washing over the platform, knocking small pieces of equipment over the edge.

It was rising quickly and the waves were becoming stronger and eventually the Careers sprinted across to the opposite side of the arena and down one of the corridors.

Before they made it, a huge wave hit, only around two metres over the platform at its peak, but it was like a steamroller in its force.

Most of them made it to the corridor, protecting them, but the District 2 girl was slower than the others.

The wave smashed into her, sending her flying off the walkway and smashing her into the water below.

Theoretically, it should have been possible to grab a pole and haul yourself up, but the waves were monstrous. Even so, the girl was unconscious before she hit the water and dead before she came back up.

The Careers saw the pack as the cannon fired, but it was now too dangerous to cross and far too dangerous for a fight.

The camera switched to the Careers as the two groups split, leaving Ross' group's fate uncertain.

They cannon balled down the corridor as water started lapping at their feet. It appeared, like native animals, most of the other tributes had already run for the safety of the stairs.

The two District 12 tributes were only just exiting their hiding place, clearly not having realised the danger until they heard the smashing of the waves.

Instead of running to safety, however, they stood like rabbits in car headlights until they were ruthlessly gutted by Toro and Cerron then tossed into the sea as the cannons fired.

Finally, they reached a grate like the one that had locked the stairs at the other end. It was now open and despite the fact some had tried to close it and lock the Careers out, it seemed the game makers wanted to see some blood and guts before letting them die. Apparently drowning was far too boring.

As soon as the Careers were through the grate, the camera flicked back to Ross and Victoria's group as they reached the grate.

Ross was last in line to go through, but when he reached the ladder he threw his pack up and yelled, "Look after it!" over the sound of the waves before running down the stairs.

Victoria tried to follow him but Storm grabbed her arm and shook his head, his dark eyes slightly sad.

The camera tracked Ross as he ran down the corridor, despite the fact that even the calmest waters were around his shoulders. He pushed forward through the wall of water, pushing himself off the roof as the waves carried him.

Finally he reached the cornucopia and his plan became apparent.

When the Careers had fled, they'd left some of the heaviest supplies behind. The water had risen too quickly for the breaking waves to knock them off, instead letting them sink against the platform.

Ross grabbed the two biggest packs and started wading back to the door.

The problem was that he was now much heavier and the resting water was up to his neck. When waves hit, he struggled to push his arms up to protect himself and started panting heavily every time the waves went down.

He was only around five metres from the grate when he lost the strength in his arms, slamming him against the roof with nothing to protect him as a trickle of blood escaped his mouth.

**Yay for massive cliff hangers! What will happen next?**

**I hope you enjoy the story and keep reading on.**

**Next Chapter: Ding, ding! Second Floor.**


	5. The Broken Quarter

**Finally, I get to write some action. Anyway, the 38****th**** Hunger Games are reaching their climax, who will win? Who will die? Who isn't coming home?**

**Oh, and I realised the Careers have been a little too stupid so far so they're about to get a little smarter. Also, this chapter's a bit short so I'll submit the next one soon.**

**If your looking for the pun in the chapter title, I replaced coin with 'quarter' for this chapter.**

I could only watch as Ross slowly drowned. It had only been seconds since he'd hit the roof but it felt like forever.

I thought he was finally gone when a spray of bubbles covered the camera as someone dived into the water. I expected it to be Locke, from the fishing district, but when the bubbles cleared; it revealed Storm, trying to push his way towards Ross.

He tried pulling, but Ross was a dead weight in the water. After a few seconds he finally swam around and pushed Ross towards Locke's waiting arms in the grated hatch.

Locke grabs on tight and tries to haul Ross up as Storm begins to follow.

The camera zooms in on the expression on Locke's face as he sees the change in current.

He calls Storm's name and tries to reach for him with his free hand, but he knows it's too late.

The current immobilises Storm, pulling him towards the ground before the mother of all waves hits. He's pulled down the corridor, then slammed into the roof and held below the water, the camera shows him choke as the water recedes, but it's too late and he's pulled under as the cannon fires.

There's a quick change to the camera on the second floor, showing the group pulling Ross up and slamming the grate shut to silence the rushing water instantly, giving the new room an eerie feel.

Eventually, the silence is broken by spluttering as Ross coughs up water and starts breathing again, bringing a sigh of relief from most of the group.

"He'd be happy, you know," a voice comes out from behind a huge rock; the second floor looks like some type of quarry, covered in huge chunks of stone, providing hiding places as well as weapons and death traps.

Everyone's head instantly swivels towards the girl and Locke's spear seems to appear at the ready as if by magic.

The girl is the twelve-year old other prisoner tribute from District 11, Rain. "He was my brother and a really nice guy. I don't think he really wanted to win; he wanted to save someone else and repent for his sins, but he didn't think he deserved to live."

"Sins?" Raven asks incredulously, standing up to meet her in a proper conversation instead of being talked down to. The others all stand up as well, with Ross propping himself against the wall, his role as leader temporarily taken over by Raven. It would seem intimidating if they didn't all seem so downtrodden and tired.

"Back in our district, discipline isn't like it is for you guys. We don't just get arrested or anything like that, even being an Avox isn't that bad. One of Storm's friends ate a handful of strawberries he picked because he'd missed his lunch to do extra work for the Peacekeepers. It was hardly any food but a Peacekeeper saw strawberry juice on his teeth and arrested him.

"He was taken into town and whipped by our Head Peacekeeper on the whipping post in front of the citizens. He was dying; the Peacekeeper was going too far but wouldn't stop. Storm grabbed the whip and hit the Peacekeeper with it.

"It turns out the Peacekeeper had a weak vertebra in his neck, Storm broke his neck and killed him.

"They arrested me and Storm and were going to kill us, in front of the villagers. Instead, they rigged the Games so we both got chosen so the country would learn the lesson and he had to watch me die and then die himself, or even survive knowing it was his fault so many people died for him.

"Knowing he gave his life to save another's, it was what he wanted," Rain finished.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Raven said, holding out his hand which Rain shook, "Would you like to join us?"

She considered this for a moment, clearly she had only meant to appease their guilt, but eventually came to a decision. "Yeah, I guess. Give me Storm's weapons, I don't need anything special."

They were planning on resting in the short entry corridor knowing no one else would come to the entryways when there was a loud rumbling.

They all jumped away from the edge as a metre's worth of rocks tumbled through the floor for as far as they could see. It left a gaping fissure which would prevent the tributes from reaching the exits on the other side if they stayed on the wrong side.

"We have to go across," Ross said, finally starting to regain his strength, "If this level's anything like the last, we're going to have to be on the other side before the arena's destroyed. We have to jump _now _or we'll all be trapped over here and die."

The others all grudgingly murmured agreement as they jumped across the metre gap before quickly sprinting for around a minute until they found a cave formed by the boulders.

Apparently the pack was getting too uninteresting; they were only running for their lives after all, so the camera flicked back to the Careers.

"We need a plan," Cerron stated.

"You guessed that, Sherlock?" Avanna asked as Vanity leaned against Cerron and Toro dropped the mound of supplies he'd carried from the Cornucopia.

"Here's my idea," Cerron said, totally ignoring Avanna, "I crawled on top of the rocks a while ago and you can see the entries and the exits on either side. About a minute ago, the first metre of the arena caved in, obviously this arena's going to destroy itself as well so we need a trap," Toro grinned evilly as he realised what Cerron was suggesting, "We set up a guard at every exit and slowly scour the arena from the exits forward. Even if we miss a few, any smart person would be in line of the exit."

The next few hours weren't particularly interesting.

The Careers picked off the two District 5 kids who'd built a fire to cook some preserved meat which gave off a sickly stench when the preservative burned. Ross' group had settled in and his right eye was slowly opening as the swelling went down.

Finally, it hit midnight and around half the arena had caved in. Apparently it was bed time for the Capitol viewers because the arena stopped destroying itself so the tributes could get some sleep.

Toro was desperate to go hunting but the Careers went back to their posts manning the exits and used their supplies of heat-reflecting blankets and food to settle down comfortably with each donning a set of body armour with weapons at hand to make sure a surprise attack would end badly if they all fell asleep.

The Capitol seal flashed and showed the faces of the District 2 girl, the two District 5 kids, Storm and both District 12 kids. Only one quarter dead on the second day; the Capitol must be getting pretty bored because as far as I knew there hadn't been any sponsor gifts.

Once the main interest groups, Ross' pack and the Careers, had gone to bed, whether or not they were still awake, the camera showed the positions of the others.

The District 3 girl was with the two older kids from District 10 who seemed to be looking after her as she was in a blanket and they took watch at the door. The District 6 boy was alone, his eyes glowing in the twilight of the arena at night time, spear at the ready as he watched the arena from a high vantage point in the corner of the arena under a dark blanket which camouflaged the rest of his body as well as keeping him warm. The two District 7 kids had had a massive row earlier in the day relating to how they should do things leading to them splitting, they replayed the fight just to spite them, and now were both sheltering dangerously close to the current borderline of the arena, either because they didn't realise or were being stupidly courageous. The District 9 girl was crammed into the smallest space between rocks she could find near the Careers' camp and had fallen asleep early so she could slip past the Careers early in the morning. The boy was sitting in the open across from Cerron with his bow in hand, clearly waiting for him to wake up. This seemed odd until the cameras showed him shadowing the Careers earlier when they planned to recruit him meaning he was simply waiting for a chance without being killed.

Despite the boredom of the night-time arena, I was keeping vigil as though watching through the night would keep Ross and Victoria alive.

An hour after the seal had vanished; the cameras showed Ross quietly singing a lullaby as more and more of his little group actually fell asleep. I even felt tired myself as my eyelids drooped… no… I had to stay… awake…

**What could have happened while Coin is asleep?**

**I know this chapter's a bit shorter than the others but I felt like having Coin fall asleep was too good of an opportunity to resolve in this chapter.**

**Next Chapter: Ding, ding, Level 3! Haberdashery, Menswear and Inevitable Doom.**


	6. Breaking Coins

**The third day of the 38****th**** Hunger Games has just begun. Who will die today?**

As my eyes fluttered open, I panicked. I had meant to stay awake all night, to never stop watching the television but instead I'd let Ross lull me to sleep.

My head flicked to the TV and I realised I'd been woken up as they started the highlights package of last night.

Ross got a brief show as he lulled his team to sleep but then they showed the real action.

Cerron flinched as he woke up to see the District 9 boy's arrow in his face.

"I hear you're interested in a hunter," he growled, his voice low to avoid waking the ruthless Toro.

"Who's asking?" Cerron shot back as his hand creeped towards his sword.

The District 9 boy stomped his hand as h flicked the hood of his jacket away from his eyes, "I'm asking."

Cerron smiled as he realised who it was, "How about a little challenge? If you win, we keep you, you lose and you die."

"You aren't exactly in a position to bargain here," the District 9 kid replied cockily.

"Oh really? I'm an actor, I'd have no trouble making enough noise to wake my little friends here, Avanna would skewer you before you made it half a metre," Cerron replied.

The District 9 boy mulled this over before replying, "Fine, what's this 'game' you want me to play?"

Cerron smiled as his manipulation succeeded, "We're interested in making things a little more… explosive," he grinned, "Unfortunately for us, that little alliance managed to nab the District 3 boy. That means we're left having to get the little girl or we're behind the game. She'll probably be being looked after by someone, I think I saw her with the District 10's back at the Training Centre. We want you to bring her here, no… strings attached."

The hunter smiled viciously and I couldn't help but wonder if it was really the Careers Ross should have been worried about or if it was this kid. He honestly looked eager to kill and capture the little girl. I wanted to tell Ross where he was so he could run and save her like a fairytale hero, but he'd never hear me.

Instead I had to watch as the District 9 boy, who was apparently named, rather unoriginally, Hunter, methodically stalked his prey. First he calculated his range of sight in the blackness of the arena then he started to search by zigzagging across the remaining arena, silently hopping from rock to rock.

He was totally and effortlessly deadly and despite their hiding place in the cave, I feared for Ross' group and their new twelve-year old member.

As he approached the District 3 girl's hiding spot, he also spotted the District 7 girl who, in an effort to get as far away from her partner as possible without going near the Careers had ended up in a small outcrop, facing the direction Hunter was coming from.

There was a second of recognition as he drew his bow before lowering it as he decided to take out his main target first.

Obviously he'd been hiding his talent from the game makers because I would have given him a twelve.

He found the two District 10 guards only a few seconds later in front of a cave blocked off by a large rock, making it seem as though it wasn't there. He silently slit the girl's throat with a serrated hunting knife before pulsing an arrow into the boy's chest before he could react, taking both out silently within a matter of seconds.

Despite a relatively diminutive figure, Hunter pushed the rock away with barely a sound on the crushed-up stone soil.

Inside, the girl was sleeping like a baby with her thumb in her mouth and, although she was on the other side to Ross and Victoria, I felt glad they weren't going to kill her.

The two cannons fired and Hunter jolted, quickly picking up the girl, strangling her until she was unconscious and slinging her over his shoulder as he ran out of the cave and climbed up on to the rocks.

When he was up the top, the District 7 girl caught his eye seeing as the cannons had woken her up and she'd stupidly stood up and stretched. He looked as though he was about to run before deciding to turn, shoot her, and then ran back to the Careers' camp.

He dumped the girl at Cerron's feet with a sickening smile on his face a few seconds after the third cannon, it seemed he could also be lightning fast when he wanted to be and I couldn't help but wonder what he showed the game makers that _didn't_ get a 12.

"Good job, welcome to the team," Cerron said, extending his hand which Hunter didn't shake, "Toro, Avanna, Vanity, wake up," Cerron called to the rest of his team who started moving with various degrees of gusto, "This is Hunter, the newest member of our team. He just managed three kills in about 2 minutes and collected the girl and I have to admit I'm impressed."

"Not bad, _kid_," Toro sneered.

"Now, let's see to the girl," Vanity suggested, sounding almost bored with proceedings.

"Right," Cerron said before kicking the girl brutally in the ribs to wake her up, "So, little girl, I have a proposition," he began as she blinked in terror at her unfamiliar surroundings, "Join us, or else."

"No," the little girl replied stubbornly.

Cerron gave the nod to Toro who raised his sword high above his head. I had to look away and apparently, so did the Capitol because when I heard the girl's scream, it was from far away.

On the screen was the District 7 boy. He'd found the corpse of his district partner and held her in his arms as tears streaked down his cheeks. It was obvious he hadn't really meant to fight and had expected it to pass the next day, but now it was final. His final words to her would always have been said in anger; it would always be his words that sent her away to her doom.

The rumble of the collapsing arena was obvious but he just sat there, holding the body as the arena collapsed and the cannon fired.

Now there were only four groups, the lone District 6 boy, Seiro, and the District 9 girl, Kera, Ross' group: Ross, Victoria, Rain, Laira, Locke and Raven and the Careers: Cerron, Vanity, Toro, Avanna and Hunter.

When Ross' group was ready to leave, it was obvious the game makers were planning a bloodbath as the floor fell away.

Seiro and Kera were both near the Careers so all they needed was Ross' group to set off the fighting.

Despite Ross' group outnumbering the Career, I realised that Kera and Seiro were going to have to take sides.

Ross' group was only a few metres away from the Careers when the camera showed Kera, which I knew meant something important. She squirmed silently out of her hole and ran to meet Ross' group with her arms raised in surrender.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you," Ross said to her, moving her into the range of his sword.

"They want you to fight, right?" Kera asked.

"Yeah," Ross replied slowly, unsure of where she was going with the question.

"Watch out for Hunter, from District 9. He killed all three early this morning then brought the little girl to the Careers. That District 2 guy killed her without a second thought, but he's just mindless. Hunter's smart, he thinks, he calculates and he kills without mercy. He's lightning fast, unnaturally strong, pinpoint accuracy but 0 conscience. As his district partner it's my job to undo what he's doing, to undo him, but I'm warning you now," she said.

Ross thought for a second before saying, "Rain, give her the bow," which Rain did grudgingly, "And thank you. I'm not going to insult your intelligence by asking for an alliance so close to half way but still, thanks."

Kera nodded before dashing over the rocks to a safe vantage point.

Ross was about to start moving again when Raven called him back, apparently the conversations were interesting the Capitol citizens because the rumbling had stopped, "There's some things that doesn't make sense with her story," he said in a whisper, "First, there were 5 cannons last night, not 4. Also, that kid only got a 7 in his training score. We shouldn't trust her anyway, but this only makes me more nervous."

"We don't have a choice. We have to kill this 'Hunter' anyway and if she's telling the truth she's helped us a bit, if she lied, it won't change anything," Ross hissed back.

It seemed the game makers had been busy over night because the Careers were in a large clearing of stone, a perfect battleground.

Ross' group was together in a wedge formation as they approached the Careers. "Prepare to say goodnight!" Toro roared, weapon at the ready.

"Yeah right," Ross replied casually as the two groups ran at each other.

Vanity had been off to the side, making her the first target for Locke and Raven.

Locke threw his spear but Vanity twirled, causing the spear to miss by inches. As Locke hauled it back in using the length of rope he'd tied to the end, Raven ran in to attack with his sword, but his clumsy swipe barely glanced Vanity's shoulder.

Cerron realised his partner was under attack and leapt, calling Vanity's name as he plunged his sword two-handed through Raven's chest.

As he landed, he kissed Vanity on the lips, but a kiss can't save you when there's a spear lodged between your ribs as Locke made up for Raven's mistake. The spear went through his ribs and into Vanity's shoulder, skewering them together before he ripped it out and turned towards the others.

The camera continued to focus on Cerron and Vanity as a tiny parachute floated from the ceiling.

Vanity managed to reach for it and opening the package revealed a type of salve which, when applied to Cerron's back, closed the wound entirely. She tried turning him over and applying more where the spear had exited, but the cream couldn't heal a burst artery and Cerron was already dead.

She screamed, pulling the knives from her sheath, throwing them wildly, totally insane.

One hit Laira's forearm and another hit Locke's back, but several hit Toro and despite his yells, she didn't stop, swirling in madness as she threw more and more knives until Toro stabbed his own team mate through the heart before pulling it out and turning to face Ross.

It wasn't until I saw him stand up against Toro that I saw how much he'd grown since I saw him, cold and starving with the fan rotor in District 8.

He was taller than Toro, but slightly slimmer and even with the swollen eye and the broken nose, I could still see the boy at the interviews when he spiralled, showing a glint of the silver stud in his ear.

Although Toro was huge, he'd gone wild and uncontrolled and Ross seemed to be just holding his own.

With one huge blow, Toro cleaved Ross' sword in half, but overbalanced, allowing Ross to shove his sword up to the hilt in Toro's chest.

As Toro fell back, Ross had to let go of his sword, slippery with blood to dodge Avanna's attack.

He saw Rain block the attack with her brother's falchion and prepare to attack when suddenly she coughed a spurt of blood and fell to the ground, dead.

Both he and Avanna turned and saw Hunter, ready with another arrow after the first one hit Rain in the stomach.

Seeing Avanna distracted, Laira leapt away from her hiding place to stab Avanna through the back.

Despite her bravery, Hunter's next arrow speared her through the heart as she blocked his angle on Ross.

Both Ross and Locke began charging at Hunter, weapons raised. Locke threw his spear but Hunter effortlessly guided it away with a shield he'd obviously found in the Careers' supplies before grabbing the rope and pulling Locke toward him so he could plunge the hunting knife into Locke's throat.

Ross looked up suddenly and I could see Kera leaping off a boulder toward Hunter.

I thought she was an idiot until I saw Hunter's attention turn to her as he raised his knife. I realised that she was giving her life so Ross could kill Hunter and prevent Hunter's victory as Ross stabbed Hunter straight through the heart with the sword he'd stolen of Toro's corpse.

I thought that maybe Kera had survived, but the next camera shot left no doubt. As she'd landed, Hunter had run her through with the hunting knife and the two lay crumpled on the ground.

Clearly Ross thought he'd won as he fell to his knees and I was about to cry with relief when the ground started rumbling and I remembered Seiro.

Ross jumped up and began to run to the stairs as he was passed by a flash of silver and I realised Victoria was still alive, hiding in the stones to avoid Hunter.

If both of them were alive then that meant one might have to kill the other.

I was terrified for both of them as they climbed the ladder and reached a small grass field, perfectly trimmed with tiny little flowers.

The cannon fired ten times and they clearly thought that they were the last two left.

"What do we do?" asked Ross to no one in particular.

"I know," Seiro's voice cackled, "How about we let me win?"

As he spoke I could only watch as he shoved his knife between Ross' shoulder blades. Ross had jolted when Seiro had spoken, meaning it wasn't the organ-crusher Seiro had hoped for.

Seiro prepared to strike again, assuming Victoria was unarmed after seeing her hide at the battlefield, when she stabbed him through the heart.

As he crumpled backwards, she fell to her knees and started rifling through her pack.

I wondered what she was looking for when she pulled out the medical supplies. I vaguely remembered them being shared between her and Laira as the two least likely to fight when she pulled out a tub.

I recognised it as the same Vanity had received as she pulled the knife out of Ross' shoulder and applied the cream.

The wound healed over instantly, but I wondered why.

If she'd just pulled out the knife, Ross would have died and she would win, but instead she was saving him.

When she was done, she put him in a choke-hold and I knew that ten seconds later, his heart stopped beating.

The cannon fired and the hover craft picked up his body and the announcer cam over an inter-com.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the winner of the 38th Hunger Games, Aeros Servan!"

**Gotta love the cliff hangers! Wow, before writing this chapter I thought the time I killed 17 out of 20 characters in a stand-alone story was impressive but I think I've out done myself this time.**

**Next Chapter: The Homecoming.**


	7. The Coin Games are Over

**The 38****th**** Hunger Games are over, but nothing will ever be the same.**

I was shocked as I realised what Victoria had done.

She'd stopped his heart with one of her weird tricks but she'd left shards of the dagger in his heart, meaning the electro-magnetic shock of the hovercraft would restart his heart.

I knew what happened to cheaters in the Hunger Games. It had happened before, but not often. The families and friends vanished and the perpetrator is brutally killed in public. Even if I stayed and didn't get killed, I'd always be known as the sister of the cheater.

I couldn't be sad for Victoria's death. I tried, but she knew what she risked by cheating and she took the punishment. Besides, I was too empty inside to feel anything. All those people, dead for Ross, intentionally or not, every person had ended up dying so Ross could live. Even Cerron and Vanity, who hated the rest of the competitors, had to die for him to live.

My father was out somewhere and I just had to hope that he knew what he was doing, what had happened.

I grabbed a thick leather jacket and was about to go when the door smashed inwards. I could see the flash of white of the Peacekeepers' uniforms, but I didn't wait to see any more.

Instead, I dived back up into my room and crawled up, onto the roof. I was about to jump across onto the next roof when I saw a flash of red turning the corner and blanched.

My father had been wearing a red coat when he left the house earlier that morning and I could recognise his face as he approached the house.

"Can I help, sir?" my father asked, I desperately wanted to cry out, but my throat was dry and nothing came out, no matter how hard I tried to speak.

I could only watch as the Peacekeepers gunned him down in the street, only watch as his blood turned the fresh snow red and only watch as they carried the body away.

When finally my muscles moved, I found myself running over the rooves by instinct more than thought, some animalistic urge guiding me away from the terror and the bloody snow. My brain slowly kicked in but emotions kicked out. I didn't want to think, I didn't want to comprehend what had happened.

First the Capitol had killed my sister for trying to save the life of someone she barely even knew because she knew it would make me happy, then they killed my father for being related to her and were looking for me for the same reason. I couldn't bear to think about it because I knew it was my fault. My fault that Victoria tried to save Ross. If I'd never known him, she wouldn't have saved him and she wouldn't be drowning on some converted oil rig.

When I stopped I realised where I'd come without thinking. I was in front of Paylor's house, the only rebel I knew who would even think of hiding me.

I knocked almost unwillingly and the door opened a crack to reveal Paylor's bloodshot eyeballs as he opened the door, "I thought you'd come here," he said as I just stood, motionless on the doorstep, "Well come in."

A few days later, after I've been hiding in a cupboard despite a lack of Peacekeeper searches, Paylor announces, "He's on now."

"Ross?" I asked, almost excitedly.

"Who else?" he replied as I sprinted toward the TV as it flickered to life.

It was pretty impressive that Ross was already on air so soon, some tributes took weeks, but I guess the Games had been unusually short and they decided to move it along as quickly as possible to make sure people didn't get too bored.

When the screen flickered to life, it seemed Ross wasn't quite ready yet so instead they were showing the highlights package and I realised I didn't want to watch.

First they showed the rush at the cornucopia, despite the lack of deaths. They showed Ross being hit in the face with a morning star in high-definition by Cerron as well as the throwing knife that hit Locke in the shoulder as he jumped. Next there were the Careers over-looking Ross' hiding spot. Then the rising water, the death of the District 2 girl and Ross' desperate rush for supplies. They drew Storm's death out for as long as they could, showing every moment as he was pulled away, focusing on Locke's eyes as he reached out.

Unsurprisingly, they skipped Rain's speech about the brutality of District 11, in fact, I'm surprised they aired it in the first place. They show the District 7s fighting and Ross lulling his team to sleep.

They show Hunter as he talks to Cerron and his murder spree as he collects the District 3 girl. They cut to the District 7 boy as he falls to his death, holding the body of the girl before returning to Kera meeting with Ross' team.

They play the bloodbath in excruciating detail, showing every moment of the deaths of the ten tributes. Making people watch the children of their District being gutted like fish or coughing up blood or even, watching their boyfriend as he kills.

Finally, they show Seiro's attempt to kill Ross. When they get up to Victoria pulling the knife out, the video gets a furry quality and it seems as though she's injured, even though I know she's not. It looks as though they've edited in the scene where she knocked Ross unconscious on the oil rig level to make it seem as though she knocked him out again.

It's impressive camera work but it only annoys me more because the Capitol cheated as much as she did by erasing the fact they drowned her alive as punishment for trying to bring Ross back to me.

After half an hour of video, it's Ross' turn.

As he sits across from a young Caesar Flickerman, he looks like crap. There's been a lot of work done on his jaw, but it still looks slightly odd. They seem to have removed the bags under his eyes and his nose has been set. The combination of a slightly crooked nose and a scar from where the morning star's spikes gouged him make him look cute but the deadness in his eyes is awful.

It's like someone has reached into his eyes and gouged out his soul, leaving his once-glowing green eyes listless.

"So, Ross, how does it feel to be back?" Caesar asks.

"Terrible. I haven't slept in days and every time they knock me out I see the kids who died flashing before my eyes, drowning me and torturing me. When I wake up, I think I'm back in the arena, that winning was just a dream and more and more I'm wishing it would be."

Caesar's expression is nervous, clearly worried how the audience will take being told about his haunting and so he tries to change the subject, "How do you feel about seeing your girl again?"

I clenched my fist as I worried about the answer when Ross replied, "Even worse than my answer to the last question. How exactly am I meant to go back? Oh, hi honey, sorry about all those people I killed, I hope you don't mind. Sucks about your sister," he says caustically, "And then we'll kiss and make up? No way. I can't go back to being who I was, ever. I'll always have to live with the deaths of the other people. Storm gave his life to save mine, despite what his sister said, he didn't plan to drown there, he was only centimetres from the ladder. If I hadn't been there, he might have won and it might have been him sitting here, talking about dead kids. Rain died because she tried to protect me, even if neither of us knew Hunter was there. Laira died because she was in Hunter's line of fire after killing _my_ enemy. I killed Toro and Hunter directly, I stabbed them through the heart. Even Kera, who wasn't even an ally, died so the murderer from her hometown didn't win. But he wasn't the only murderer. I'll have all this blood on my hands I'll never wash off. And you ask how I feel about seeing Alma again? Well here's my answer: I'll feel _shit_."

Caesar's looking seriously worried and I almost feel for the guy, it's only his second year and I get the idea the director's using a traumatised Ross as some type of test for him, "What do you plan to do when you get home?"

"Have a shower, eat, drink and never go near District 2 or the beach again. Maybe have a few mental breakdowns whenever I see grass, sea water or quarried stone. One thing I won't do is act as if nothing's changed. Things have changed, even if I can't do anything about it and I have to accept that. Maybe I'll try getting a normal job and set my life straight but I just don't know."

Caesar covered a sigh of relief as he realised he'd found a safe topic, "Have you considered television? I'm sure you've got a few fans out there," the audience screams as if to agree with Caesar.

"I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to watch a TV set again, let alone be on it. If I have to be a mentor, I'll be mentally destroyed enough as it is."

I was going to keep watching when I heard the sound of footsteps down the street.

At first I thought nothing of it, until I realised how many there were. It was almost the perfect trap. They must have realised I'd watch Ross and they could gun me down in front of the TV.

As I run towards the back window, I yell at Paylor not to answer the door but it's too late. The instant he opens the door, he's peppered with bullets while I'm covered in shards outside his back window.

There are Peacekeepers only centimetres from the corners to the back wall when suddenly there's a ladder in front of me.

I grip on for dear life as I recognise a hover craft from District 13. Paylor must have called it because I can't tell why else it would be there.

The Peacekeepers realise it isn't a Capitol craft and try shooting at it, but I'm already safely in the cabin and we're leaving the scene at several hundred miles an hour.

Inside is a young soldier named Boggs, he's about sixteen and dressed in the tight, grey uniform of District 13 with his helmet on the chair beside him.

"I know there's nothing I can say to make it right but… I'm sorry," Boggs said, "There was still work for your father to do and we couldn't pull Victoria out of the games. I'm just sorry it ended like… this."

And I know exactly what 'this' is. It's my father's and Victoria's deaths. It's Ross, dead-eyed on the TV screen. It's Paylor, gunned down on his doorstep. Most importantly, it's the death of the little girl inside me. There's no one left for me. The Capitol has taken it all away. Even though Ross is still alive, he's still dead. He's broken and empty and there's nothing I can do to save him. I can't even see him, the Capitol have taken even that right.

We're both silent as we approach the hatch leading to the underground hangars of District 13.

I get dressed in the uniform of District 13 and go through the motions, but I'm still tied down by my past.

I thought I'd cut it all away, but there's still one string to take care of.

Finally, one of the teachers in District 13 tells me I need to go back and see Ross. I try and convince her I don't, that I'm fine, but really I'm not. And she knows it.

I'm booked on a hovercraft flight, once again with the young soldier, Boggs. He visits me occasionally in my cabin. I think he feels guilty about not doing more for me on that day in the hover craft out of District 8.

When I touch down, I feel nostalgic, but none of the memories are good ones. I just feel lost and alone as I make my way to the Victor's Village near the centre of town.

I don't think anyone is looking for me any more, but just in case I have a scarf tightly wrapped around my silver hair because it stands out like a cauliflower in a candy store.

As I knock on Ross' door, I'm nervous. Nervous about what he'll do, nervous about what he'll say, but mostly just nervous.

When he opens the door, he doesn't hug me, he doesn't do anything except lean against the door frame, "Hey," he says.

"Hey," I whisper back, eyes down cast.

"I'm sorry," he whispers.

"I know," I reply.

"I'm staying here, I can't come with you."

"I know."

"There's nothing I can say or do to fix this, I just hope you understand that I'm truly sorry."

"What if I said I would forgive you?"

"Even if you could, I couldn't forgive myself. Even if I could convince myself to believe I wasn't to blame them for their actions at the bloodbath, it wouldn't mean I'm not. They chose me as their leader, I was meant to make the right decisions for them but I didn't. It was my choice to lead them in, my choice to go and get the supplies and my choice to ignore the danger Hunter presented. I don't know if anyone else could have done it right, all I know is that I did it wrong. I'll never forgive myself."

We both stood there in silence before he continued, "This is for you…" he dropped a necklace in my hand. It was made of pieces of cloth knotted together with a hunk of granite cut in the shape of a coin.

I recognised it as my sister's and I realised it was the last thing I'd ever have to remember her by.

As I threaded it over my neck we both stood in an awkward silence.

"So… I guess this is goodbye," I said blandly.

"I guess," Ross replies and we both keep standing there until finally I walk away.

"Remember me!" I call back and I'm glad Ross still has enough heart left to smile.

**That's it for now, folks. I kinda feel sorry for what happened to Ross, even though I wrote it… probably a bad sign.**

**Next Chapter: Coin for President.**


	8. Final Toss of the Coin

**This story's drawing to a close but I hope you enjoyed reading it.**

In District 13, your sixteenth birthday means the end of your schooling. Most kids went on to the agricultural sectors or became mechanics for the hovercraft fleet, but I didn't want to spend my time fiddling with carrots in some musty dungeon.

Even though we weren't actively oppressed by the Capitol, I could still see the people suffering.

Small portions of food, a lack of space and comforts, even a lack of socialisation had left District 13 weak and docile. The President did nothing about it; he was paranoid and obsessed with defending the district while the Capitol flaunted its power over everyone, even the children.

In the open air, there was still a cloying sense of claustrophobia, a terror the Capitol was coming, combined with my own seething hatred, tamed only by the though that someday, we could fight back.

My fifteenth birthday passed, then my sixteenth and my seventeenth in a blur until I was twenty-one and angry.

President Boslarvic had called for a culling of the army recruitment, instead letting us nest in our little underground den while others suffered. I might have given up on Ross, but I hadn't forgotten the others who died in the games. The 23 names I would never forget. Cerron, Vanity, Toro, Reia, Raven, Volt, Locke, Avanna, Praen, Tina, Seiro, Laira, Nero, Caela, Victoria, Hunter, Kera, Prime, Shika, Storm, Rain, Onyx and Garnet.

Just another few names on the list of the dead.

874 kids never coming home in only 38 years.

After the announcement, I found Boggs who I considered an ally in the army. I couldn't bring myself to have friends after what happened to those I was close to in District 8. People were just pieces, like the pawns in the games of chess I used to play.

I stormed the office and demanded the President stand down or risk death.

Once upon a time I would have thought myself appalling, but no more. It was just one big game and I was playing by the same rules as the Capitol.

He stood down without a fight and proclaimed me President the next day.

My first command was to undo what my predecessor had wrought. I created a mandatory army service period unless they had special provision. The hovercrafts were upgraded and the weapons labs developed. I used my father's contacts in District 8 to set up a factory to make uniforms for the rebels and used what resources we could spare to help shift their allegiances further from the bed rock of the Capitol.

I heard that Paylor's wife, who had been in District 6 at the time of the attacks, had delivered a child several months after her husband's death. The girl was six and healthy, it seemed the Capitol had decided Paylor's wife was unrelated to the cheating and that they drew the line at six year olds, unbelievable as it seemed.

Next, I visited Hunter's brother in District 9. He had been a victor a few years before his brother, with the same deadly finesse. I knew that he wouldn't have any aversion to killing those who needed to die and that was what I needed. He was also well known in District 9 and we needed people undercover to set up the rebels. Officially, this was his only position; unofficially he was an assassin.

My conscience twanged, but logic overpowered the guilt. The Capitol would kill hundreds of people with their thirst for power, a few well-placed deaths were necessary for victory.

I waited for an opportunity for dozens of years. I could feel my body decaying with age and I was worried about my future when Katniss Everdeen shows up on a silver platter.

Ross' speech about the horror of life after the Hunger Games had created a bit of a stir, but Katniss really outdid herself.

She was perfect and everything that I needed for the rebellion, a symbol but also a human who could manipulate emotions. My tangled web of victors was fairly strong after the conversion of Finnick Odair. He was famous for being a pretty-boy but he was from a Career district as well as having contacts in the other districts.

Johanna Mason was quick to follow, she and Hunter's brother got along like a house on fire until he died.

To begin with, I was worried that his death would destabilise the rebels in District 9, but instead the opposite was true. I'd underestimated the value of a martyr to any cause. A dead symbol was a fantastic motivator, a lesson I should have learned from Cerron and Vanity. After they died, the show's fame skyrocketed, earning millions for the network and the suspicion shifted to their own network director for their deaths.

I'd met Haymitch Abernathy several years earlier in District 12. To be honest, I'd given up on them but I recognised a kindred spirit in his story. His family was killed as a result of cheating using the force field and he knew exactly how I felt. He'd seen his family killed in front of him and blamed himself.

His connection to Katniss was worrying for a while, I was nervous he would undermine my operation, but instead he was invaluable in converting her from little girl to war symbol.

The stylist was willing to do his part; he had connections in the Capitol as well as Plutarch Heavensbee, which I knew would prove useful even if he didn't.

The most unusual convert to the rebel cause came near the 70th Hunger Games. I was in District 3 when I was approached by a victor named Beetee who recognised me, despite the age difference and died hair. It turned out he was Raven's uncle and hated the Games. He'd watched his favourite nephew gored after killing several kids in his own Games and wanted to put an end to it.

In the end, he was possibly our most valuable asset.

When the Quarter Quell came and we managed to rescue the two kids from 12, I was irate. The girl had done her job, when what we really needed was a representative, something only Peeta could do. I didn't mention the fact that Peeta reminded me of Ross, but I was still over ruled.

Instead we get stuck with smart-assed, useless 'lover girl.' Maybe if it weren't for Cerron and Vanity, I could have lived with the act, but instead, I hated it.

During the blood bath, they suddenly decided to make out and get ridiculously expensive medicine that could have given a gift to save another tribute; instead they waste it and die.

It just reminded me of the waste and stupidity of the Capitol and how awful they were.

Finally, she disobeys orders and twists my arm and then we have to kill dozens of essential informants to rescue hijacked lover boy and then use our supplies to rehabilitate him.

The wedding was just another huge waste of resources when we should have been fighting a war.

When we're ready for the real fight, I send them out of the way; to a remote area to film some fake footage to show the nation.

Eventually, I remember my epiphany about the value of a martyr. The mockingjay had flown and it was time for her to give the last thing she could to the fight against the Capitol: her life.

I sent Peeta with the knowledge the Capitol would drive him mad and activate the tracker jacker venom. Then rest of the squad would kill him and problem solved; two martyrs coming up.

Only, things never turned out as planned.

Both survived as the only valuable members of the squad died.

It was with Boggs' death that I realised what I'd done.

I'd blinded myself to the pain and suffering I'd caused everyone around me.

I thought I was just playing the game, trying to beat the Capitol. I never thought about the fact that I was making myself as bad as Snow, that I was becoming a murderer.

By my hand, hundreds had died for what I saw as the 'Greater Good' and I hated myself.

I understand what Rain meant now, about Storm.

Sometimes, you don't feel you deserve life anymore. Sometimes, all that's left is to try and repent before you die, and I failed even that.

Instead, I accepted I was going to hell and destroyed what conscience I had undamaged to win the war.

A few people know that the parachutes fell on my command, but so long as most people believe it was Snow, it will be so much easier to hate him, so much easier to accept a new government.

I knew Ross had been killed by the Capitol, they probably believed he was a rebel and I realised that was another spot of blood on my hands. I thought I'd gotten over him, but I realised I hadn't. He was the 24th name on the list of the dead and it was my fault.

I couldn't allow myself to stay alive, to have caused Ross' death and yet stay alive instead of him who was so good but so ruined.

The idea of the Capitol games was stupid and reckless, it was my vengeance for Ross and Victoria, but all it did was destroy me.

I can't condone my actions and I will never try. I know now what Ross meant when he said he'd never forgive himself if I forgave him. Sometimes you don't deserve it and so I end life with this message:

_It must be so easy to hate me, Katniss, but these are the choices I made. Make the most of your life. Never believe you make your decisions for anyone else, this is the last gift I can give you after everything I took away._

_Remember me._

**Finally, the end has arrived after only around 5 days of writing. I have to get back to real life for a while, but I hope everyone who read up to here enjoyed the story, depressing as it was.**

**Signing off ~ WolfRida.**


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